• Volcanoes.The planet's thermostat
  • New Zealand: Whakaari volcano is still too dangerous to recover the bodies
  • New Zealand The New Zealand Police do not believe there are any survivors after the eruption of the Whakaari volcano

The Shishaldin volcano, in Alaska, has erupted and has spit eight kilometers high an ash cloud that has caused delays and cancellations of flights as well as a fine rain of volcanic particles that reached the neighboring locations, according to authorities who decreed a red alert.

The ash explosion of the Shishaldin volcano, about 1,094 kilometers southwest of Anchorage , was the largest recorded in about six months of intermittent eruptive activity on the mountain, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.

Shishaldin, one of Alaska's most active volcanoes and the highest peak in the Aleutian Islands chain , began to emit ash on Tuesday morning and continued to do so until the early afternoon, said observatory geologist Kristi Wallace.

The cone-shaped mountain, covered largely with snow and ice throughout the year, is 2,857 meters high on Unimak Island.

The observatory issued a 'red alert' warning for air traffic around the Shishaldin, a level of alert more serious than the 'orange alert' issued in recent months by the oozed lava and the occasional bursts of ash and steam.

Shishaldin launched a cloud of ash at approximately the same height (eight kilometers) during a brief explosion on Friday, but Tuesday's episode lasted for several hours, Wallace said.

"It was not isolated," he said. " It is rather a sustained activity , which means that there is more volume of material coming out of the volcano."

The elevation, duration and direction of the ash pen on Tuesday, which moved over the land instead of going completely to the sea, also posed a possible danger for commercial aircraft traffic in the region, he said.

It was reported that a small amount of ash, mixed with rain and snow, fell in the town of Cold Bay, a community of several dozen residents about 93 kilometers northeast of Shishaldin, Wallace said.

Angela Simpson, town councilor, said the most direct consequence of the eruption was the delay of the regional commercial flight that was expected that day.

Flights to at least one other community, such as Unalaska-Dutch Harbor (where a commercial fishing port is located) were also temporarily suspended, as reported by the regional airline Ravn Alaska.

Alaska is home to more than three quarters of all US volcanoes that have erupted during the past 200 years, according to the observatory's website.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • science

Climate Crisis Trump attacks Greta Thunberg for being a Person of the Year in 'Time'

Climate crisis Brazil, China and India hamper the final stretch of the negotiation at the Climate Summit

Climate crisis The EU, unable to reach a unanimous commitment to climate neutrality in 2050